Power and Grace
by Tuna Salad Sonnet
Summary: 50 blurbs about Toph, Aang, and the future. Mostly. [Taang, some Zutara and Tykka] [Done with 1sentence prompts]


**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Avatar: The Last Airbender_ or any related characters. This was written out of enjoyment of the series, and no profit is being made.

**_Ships: _**(Romance) Mostly - Toph/Aang. Mentions - Zuko/Katara, Ty Lee/Sokka. (Friendship) Mentions - Just about everyone.  
**_Warnings: _**Alcohol consumption, mentions of violence.  
**_Other Info: _**Some blurbs take place within the show, some take place during a hypothetical season 3, some take place after the war ends.

* * *

**Power and Grace**

_Ring_

"A man should always propose in the custom that the lady is accustomed to," Iroh says to the three boys around the campfire. (Zuko blinks and asks, "Uncle, why are you talking about this?" The old man doesn't respond, but gives Aang a ring carved from wood.)

_Hero_

Toph spat at him during training, "You're not a hero, you're just a kid!" (Aang decided it was his favourite insult yet.)

_Memory_

Toph wiggles her toes in the Spirit Oasis grass and mumbles, "This place seems familiar."

_Box_

The rest of his friends don't understand Aang's gift: a simple, unpainted box; but then she runs her fingers over the carved designs, and they understand.

_Run_

They've developed a signal for when they split up from the rest: when one reaches for the other's hand, it means _run._

_Hurricane_

For the first time it is Toph, not Katara, that reaches into the gale force winds to pull the boy with the glowing tattoos back down.

_Wings_

When Aang walks back into the apartment after his zoo-creating adventure, he is astonished to see Toph, (in full make-up) sitting with Momo, saying, "That buzzard-wasp got you kind of bad, huh?"

_Cold_

She's surprised when she follows Aang through the little door, because she doesn't feel so cold anymore, and she can feel grass beneath her feet, and she can _see _again. ("I don't think Yue's ever met an earthbender, Toph.")

_Red_

Aang hated the colour red at first, because it hurt Katara; then Zuko became his friend and it wasn't so bad; then Toph started wearing it when they visited the peaceful Fire Nation, and he loved it.

_Drink_

Toph takes one sip of the bitter liquid from the Avatar's cup, and she knows right away why his stance is funny and his steps wobbly. (She shoves the cup into Sokka's nearby chest and says, "Tell Zuko that the punch is too close to the other stuff.")

_Midnight_

Most twelve year old girls don't stay up until midnight, but not only did Toph do _that_, she was captured from her garden, held for ransom, took on who-knows-how many wrestlers and guards, ran away from home and towards the first person who understood – _all in one night._

_Temptation_

The boy immediately turns around and digs his nails into the bark of the tree after seeing Toph and Katara in their bathing suits in the spring just beyond, blushing heavily. (Zuko raises an eyebrow at him and asks, "What's with you all of a sudden?")

_View_

Toph decides that Katara's no Sugar Queen after meeting Ty Lee, but she decides that asking Aang for help with a new nickname would be pointless. (_He'd only think up mushy, gooey names, _she thinks spitefully.)

_Music_

She hates dancing, and she _loathes_ singing, but she loves to sit and listen. ("I can feel it all around me," she whispers to him as they sit.)

_Silk_

When he wakes up with his hands tangled in something unbelievably soft, he thought it would be either his blanket or Appa's fur…not Toph's hair. ("If you keep staring at my head, you'll be halfway to Ba Sing Se, Twinkletoes.")

_Cover_

"Cover me!" the airbender shouts, spotting an entrance into the Fire Nation building. (A tremor traces her arm and she shouts over her shoulder, _"Cover you?"_)

_Promise_

"I promise I'll come back," he whispers to her as the men in the red armor lead the boy away. ("You'd better," she whispers to the ground as tears sting her eyes.)

_Dream_

Toph knows, despite Katara's warning not to wake him, that the Avatar wants anything _but_ to continue sleeping. (He's shifting in his sleep again.)

_Candle_

Sokka wakes them up when the fire goes out like a candle in the wind, and before either of the firebenders can light it again, Toph glares into the distance and whispers, "Something's coming."

_Talent_

"I can't believe we're doing Music Night again," Zuko complains, but Aang keeps on smiling at Toph, who continues to play the harp. (_"Four seasons, four loves," _Iroh sings beside her.)

_Silence_

"You're not the only quiet one around camp," Uncle Iroh says, "Miss Toph has been just like you since Ty Lee arrived."

_Journey_

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, so us and the fire-types are all 'best buddies forever', but in case you forgot, Twinkletoes, we still have a long way to go."

_Fire_

Toph can't decide if she likes it or hates it that Aang smells like ash now that Zuko has joined them, instead of just earth.

_Strength_

One day, Aang sneezes and soot flies out of his nose along with the huge gust of wind. ("He's getting stronger," Iroh comments.)

_Mask_

There is no doubt that Toph's favourite story is the one that both Aang and Zuko tell, the one where the Avatar lays in a prison with no hope of rescue, and a prince hides behind a mask. (Katara likes it too, however much she pretends not.)

_Ice_

Aang frowns when Toph refuses to skate around the ice with him at the southern pole. ("It'll be no fun without you.")

_Fall_

He slips in the mud again and his muscles chant in his head: fall, fall, fall, fall; but he looks at the weak earthbender in his arms and his heart chants: stand, stand, stand, stand…

_Forgotten_

When Zuko and Katara walk off talking amiably to wash the dirty clothes, Toph finds Aang sitting on the outskirts of camp, and he's sitting too still to be the Aang she knows.

_Dance_

She hates dances, (the pain her shoes give her screws up her sight) but then he offers her his hand and asks if she wants to dance, and she smiles.

_Body_

He finally jolts himself awake from the nightmare, and is about to seek out Katara for comfort, but he settles for Toph's peaceful smile on her nearby sleeping body.

_Sacred_

Toph was nervous when she accidentally brushed the spot on his back where the lightning struck, but Aang winced and put on a brave smile and said, "It's okay."

_Farewells_

"We'll be careful, don't talk to strangers, all that jazz, okay, we're going now!" Toph exclaims, pushing Aang away from Zuko and Katara, determined that he not see the new necklace she was wearing.

_World_

Aang sometimes felt like he was traveling with the future representatives of some global council: Ty Lee, a fun loving Air Nomad, Sokka, the charm of the Southern Water Tribe, Katara, the grace of the Northern Water Tribe, Toph, the stubbornness of the Earth Kingdom, and Zuko, the intrigue of the Fire Nation.

_Formal_

"I can't believe I'm actually saying this," Toph opened the one eye that Ty Lee wasn't painting with green powder, "but you're actually pretty fun, Sugar Queen." ("I thought _I _was Sugar Queen!" "Fine, she'll be…Pink Poof then." "Poof!")

_Fever_

He was _just _going to say it, the confession of all confessions, when Toph starting calling for a nurse, saying the Avatar had suddenly come down with a bout of seriousness, and thus _must_ be deathly ill.

_Laugh_

Aang always gets chills when she laughs; it was how he first identified her after all.

_Lies_

"_You _lied?" Toph asks incredulously as Aang recounts the story of the Zhangs and Gan Jins.

_Forever_

"You're spirit goes on into the next Avatar," she sniffs, determined not to cry, "so how do I know that you'll still be you in the Spirit World?" ("Toph, my _spirit _gets reincarnated, not _me. I'll_ be with you forever.")

_Overwhelmed_

"I don't get it, Sokka: I told Toph that I'm worried about getting a girlfriend, and the next thing I know, there are rocks coming at me!" ("That's, uh, quite a puzzle there, Aang.")

_Whisper_

She can tell its nighttime because the bare earth tells her there is no sunshine upon it, and she's about to ask why he's woken her up, but then he whispers, "I want to show you something."

_Wait_

She waits until after Iroh has finished to shift the earth to kill the bug crawling towards the camp so as not to interrupt the story. ("I hate centipedes, but I'll wait for any story.)

_Talk_

Toph sighs and puts her chin in her palm, "Have you ever had problems with Fire Boy?" (Katara's tea cup shatters on the ground.)

_Search_

Fire Lord Zuko finally finds the source of that annoying pinging sound, only to discover it's just Toph and Aang spitting into a spittoon in the palace attic.

_Hope_

"Yeah, well you had better _hope _that I won't kick your butt this time, World's Last Hope for Peace," she says, as she places the lotus tile on the board.

_Eclipse_

The Avatar is surprised (but oddly delighted) when Toph comes to him the day before the eclipse and squeezes his hand, saying, "If you keep shaking, I'm gonna go nuts."

_Gravity_

"Gravity is everything," she says as she meditates; he smirks (because he knows he's getting to her) and corrects, "Gravity is _nothing._"

_Highway_

Whenever the two visit the restored Ba Sing Se, the earthbender insists on going back to one specific bridge and spitting into the creek beneath, and the only explanation she gives is, "They called me a poodle-monkey."

_Unknown_

"So, I guess I understand why you and Ty Lee came, but what happened to the girl who could throw knives?" Aang asks his firebending teacher as they walk into camp. ("It's…complicated," he replies.)

_Lock_

"Fool," Zuko mumbles as he melts the doorknob holding his student prisoner, "locks don't affect the Avatar anymore."

_Breathe_

"Aang," she whispers, weak and tired, "you have to keep going, keep _breathing_." (He pushes his forehead against her's, tears crawling from his eyes. "So do you.")

* * *

**AN. **Wow, I'm finally finished this! I've been chipping away at it since...March. Wow, yeah. Some of these sentences are that old, and some are a lot newer. The last four I wrote today.

I know, I know, this is supposed to be one of those 1 sentence challenges, but I cheated and used brackets alot. Also, I'm worried that some of them might not make a lot of sense, so if you don't get something, just ask, and I'll try to explain. Hopefully. :)

Also, there are some sentences where I had weird grammer issues. So any of you grammer nazis (XD) can help me with that.

**Edit 1: **Corrected some grammar and spelling in Sacred. _Thanks goes to Pink Illusion!_

**Edit 2: (Spoilers for 3x02) **My Dance blurb: _She hates dances, (the pain her shoes give her screws up her sight) but then he offers her his hand and asks if she wants to dance, and she smiles._

Now watch The Headband, or remember it if you already have. Good news: shoes really do mess up Toph's sight. Bad News: Aang offers his hand to Katara.

...There was a mix-up in the writing department, I swear. So close!

**Edit 3: **Corrected some grammar in Talk. _Thanks goes to Darklace15!_


End file.
